Love and Memories
by Kristen3
Summary: When Mary suddenly passes away, Rhoda knows she must gather her former colleagues and friends. Times may have changed, but some things will always be the same. Rating is for minor language. Written as a tribute to the one and only Mary Tyler Moore.
1. Chapter 1

Rhoda could hardly believe it had happened. She'd gone to Mary's apartment, expecting to meet her for their regular morning coffee date. Times had changed. They were living in New York now, and both found that they liked the convenience of having Starbucks nearby. Sure, they weren't as young as they once were, but neither was planning to call it quits yet.

At least, that had been true up to now. When Mary didn't answer her door, Rhoda became concerned. She let herself in using her emergency key. "Kid?" Still no answer. When she got to her friend's bedroom, she knew something was tragically wrong. She wouldn't wake up. And when Rhoda tried to feel for a pulse, there was none. She called 911 immediately.

Paramedics came, and they attempted to do CPR, but it was soon clear that it was too late. Mary had simply died in her sleep.

Though they'd never spoken of it, Rhoda knew exactly what Mary would want her to do next. She had called Rose, who had taken a road trip with some friends, and was coming home as soon as she could. But that wasn't the most important thing. Rhoda knew she had to call Mary's friends. She had never imagined having to make this call. But she gathered her courage. After all, Rhoda was never one to be shy about speaking her mind. She called Lou Grant and informed him of the situation. Of course, Lou tried to act like it didn't really matter. But even through the phone, Rhoda knew he was fighting his emotions. Lou graciously volunteered to contact Murray, thereby giving Rhoda one less unpleasant task to deal with.

That meant Rhoda still had to make two very difficult phone calls. One would be to Georgette, Ted Baxter's widow. It had been hard enough on her to lose him, but this might be more than she could handle. Rhoda knew without a doubt Mary would want Georgette to be taken care of. _Well, I guess that's going to my job now_ , Rhoda thought. As predicted, Georgette burst into tears when Rhoda broke the news to her. "It's OK," Rhoda reassured her. "Wait, what am I saying? It's _not_ OK, but we'll get through it. I promise. I already called Lou, and he's getting in touch with Murray. I thought, before the actual funeral, we could all sort of, you know, get together."

Slowly, Georgette's tears stopped. She couldn't pass up a chance to see her old friends again. True, they had been Ted's co-workers, and they hadn't always been nice to him, but they were, in some way, a family.

Once Georgette had promised to come, Rhoda knew she still had one last call to make. And it would be, by far, the hardest. If she could have avoided it, she would. But she knew, once again, that wouldn't be what Mary would want. So, even though everything in Rhoda said not to do this, she called her former landlady and friend (if one could use the word loosely), Phyllis. When Phyllis answered the phone, Rhoda took deep breath. "It's Rhoda. I know we haven't spoken in over twenty years. And we've never had a nice thing to say to each other when we did speak. But I hope we can be civil to each other just this one time."

"Why, Rhoda, dear, what's the matter? You sound as if something tragic has happened."

"Well, that's because something tragic _has_ happened. Mary…..well, she passed away last night. It happened in her sleep. I just thought maybe…"

Phyllis cut her off. "You want me to help put together a memorial service for her? Well, I'd be glad to. I mean, I know I'm still in California, but I _do_ have my connections."

"No, Phyllis, that's not what I was going to say!" Rhoda sighed in exasperation. Now she remembered why they hadn't spoken in so many years. "I can handle the funeral arrangements myself. I just thought you'd want to get together, just, you know, us…..Georgette, Murray and Lou. We're the ones who knew Mary the best. She'd want us to get together, don't you think?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be appropriate. But wait, that Happy Homemaker isn't going to be there, is she?"

"Sue Ann?" Rhoda laughed. Though it was true that Sue Ann was part of this group, she and Mary had never been especially close. Mary had spoken fondly of most of her WJM co-workers, but she and Sue Ann had gone their separate ways after being fired. "No...I really don't think I need to call her."

"Good," Phyllis said. "Then I'll come." She knew Rhoda had been right, Mary would've loved the idea of her closest friends reuniting to remember her. And, as long as the woman who once had an affair with Phyllis' late husband wasn't a part of it, there was no reason for her not to go. Even if that meant seeing Rhoda again after all these years.


	2. Chapter 2

Last-minute airline tickets were bought, and soon, all of Mary's closest friends were in the same city at the same time. This hadn't happened in decades. Just like always, they gathered at Mary's apartment. It wasn't her quaint studio apartment back in Minneapolis, but even still, as they looked around the room, they were flooded with memories.

"How could this have happened?" Lou asked. "I mean, she's gone, just like that?"

"Lou, she was my best friend! I talked to her on the phone just the other night. Don't you think, if something was wrong, I would've seen it?!" Rhoda replied.

"Let's not do this," Murray said. "Blaming each other isn't going to help. These things happen. Remember Chuckles?"

Lou nodded. He could never forget. WJM's kid-show host had gone to a parade dressed as a peanut. He was crushed to death by an elephant. It was completely unexpected, which had made everyone see how fragile their lives were. "Yeah, I guess you're right," Lou replied. "I'm sorry. I just never thought it would be like this, you know? I haven't taken the best care of myself. I always assumed you'd all be here toasting me."

Murray nodded. He understood. "Well, if we were, you know Mary would be hugging all of us and saying everything would be OK. That's how she was."

"No one knows that better than me," Rhoda said. "She was there for me every time I got dumped. Which was a lot."

"No need to remind us of that," Phyllis said. "I mean, even Joe left you, right?"

Rhoda turned to Phyllis, giving her a look that said she had crossed a line.

"Please, don't fight!" The usually soft-spoken Georgette raised her voice. "We're here for Mary's sake."

"You're right, Georgette," Rhoda said. "Mary was the best friend I ever had. OK, so when we met, I was jealous. I wanted her apartment, her clothes, and of course her figure. If anybody had it all together, it was her."

The others nodded their agreement. But, after a moment, Lou spoke up. "Mary was wonderful. I'll never forget when she came in for an interview. She told me I was asking too many personal questions. She sure had spunk. But, I think if we're remembering her, we should remember her as she was. I mean, she threw terrible parties."

"Oh, yeah, who could forget that?" Murray asked. "Remember the time there was a power failure? We all sat there in the dark. Or the dinner party, when you took half the food?"

"Yeah, I think I remember that," Lou muttered.

"Or how about the time _you_ ruined a party because you thought I wanted to marry your brother?" Rhoda said, pointing to Phyllis.

"Well, thank God my brother at least had more sense than to do that."

Rhoda opened her mouth, ready to remind Phyllis that her brother was, in fact, gay.

"OK, I know you two have never gotten along," Lou interjected. "But do you think you could put your differences aside for a minute? Mary has _died_. I didn't come all the way out here for this!"

For a moment, everyone was quiet. The memories of Mary were so vivid, it was almost as if she were right there with them.

"You know what I keep thinking?" Murray asked. "People die every day. I know that. But why did it have to be _her_? Why couldn't it have been someone else's turn?"

Georgette turned to Murray, compassion evident on her face. "I went through that same thing when Ted passed away. Asking 'why' didn't bring him back, and it's not going to bring Mary back, either. We just have to be grateful she was here."

Suddenly, Murray reached out and hugged her. For all the times he put Ted down, he finally realized the anchorman did something right in marrying Georgette.

"You know what I remember about Mary?" Phyllis spoke up. "I remember showing her that apartment. I knew it was perfect for her, and I had to make sure _she_ got it." She glared at Rhoda for a moment, before turning back to the others. "She loved it, of course, and that was the start of everything. Her life, her career, all of it happened because of that apartment."

"Phyllis, don't you think you're giving yourself a little too much credit? I mean, you gave her a place to live. Fine. But the job? She did that part on her own!" Rhoda felt the need to defend her friend.

"Well, you remember it however you want. I'm just telling you the way _I_ remember it."

"All I know is, I'm never going to forget her. Sitting there next to her in the newsroom…..sometimes I wonder if I could've stayed at WJM all those years without her," Murray said.

"Yeah," Lou said. "She sure made that place a hell of a lot better. She always said she wouldn't have made it if it weren't for me. But I never really told her how much she meant to _me_."

"Oh, Lou, she knew." Rhoda said. "I know we all wish we'd called her more, or told her things we didn't. I saw her every day these past few years, but still I wish I had said things. But I really think she knew how we all felt. It sounds crazy, I know. But, in my heart, I know it's true." Unexpectedly, Rhoda felt tears in her eyes. As she looked around, she saw she wasn't the only one trying not to cry.

"I think you're right," Georgette said. "Even if we hadn't seen her in years, or ever picked up a phone, there are just some things you can never forget. Love, that's what she cared about. That's what she'd want us to remember. It's what brought us all together, right?"

Slowly, everyone nodded their agreement. "Well, I guess we all know what we have to do now, don't we?" Murray asked. "The same thing we did after our last newscast." He opened his arms, and within seconds, he was wrapped in a small, yet very tight, group hug. Somehow, they all knew, it was exactly what Mary would have wanted.

 **The End**


End file.
